Mohamed Salah scored against Newcastle United - Photo Courtesy Liverpool Media.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot remained tight-lipped when asked about the long-term future of forward Mohamed Salah after their Premier League game against Newcastle United.
The Reds battled to a 3-3 draw against the Magpies in topsy-turvy clash, with Alexander Isak's first-half opener being cancelled out by Curtis Jones soon after the interval before Anthony Gordon put the hosts back in front.
Salah quickly equalised and then scored again with 83 minutes gone to put Slot's team into the lead for the first time on the night. But more late drama followed as Fabian Schar slid home a late equaliser to earn a share of the spoils for Newcastle.
Asked about the future of the Egyptian international, Slot said: “It is difficult for me to predict the long-term future, the only thing I can expect or predict is he is a very good place at the moment. He plays in a very good team that provides him with good opportunities and then he is able to do special things.
“What makes him even more special for me is before we scored for 1-1 you thought, 'He is not playing his best game today,' but then to come up with a half-hour with an assist, two goals, having a shot against the bar and being a constant threat, that is something not many players can do if they've played the first hour like he did. So, that is also what makes him special, apart from if you just look at the goals. His finishing is so clinical. A special player, but that's what we all know.”
On whether he has been surprised by Salah's form this season, he said: “I have seen many games of last season but it is always difficult to judge a player if you are not there. What I did most was [look at] style of play and team performance and not that much the individual performance and what I noticed from the start, when he came in [in pre-season was] how fit he was, how ready he was to make it a very good season for him.
“That he led by example from the first day onwards in pre-season where so many of his teammates who he usually plays with, so the international players, were not there and to still be able to work that hard, he did, and train so hard: yeah, and then we all saw the quality in the training sessions. So it's not a surprising thing for me that he’s done so well until now.”
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